Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Human Rights

the marquess of lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they last discussed human rights violations in (1) Bahrain; (2) Cameroon; (3) Eritrea; and (4) the Philippines with the respective governments of those countries.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: The UK enjoys a close relationship with the Government of Bahrain which allows us to speak honestly about a range of issues, including human rights. Where we have concerns on specific issues we raise these with the Bahraini authorities through various channels, including the bi-annual UK-Bahrain Joint Working Group co-chaired by the Minister for the Middle East and his Bahraini opposite number. The last of which was held on 19 July 2018.The British High Commissioner met the Minister of Interior of Cameroon on 25 July 2018 and discussed human rights in Cameroon.The Minister for Africa raised human rights in Eritrea with the Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh Mohammed when they met in New York on 25 September 2018.The Minister for Asia and the Pacific raised concerns about the human rights situation in the Philippines with the Philippines Government during his trip to Manila on 16-17 August 2018.

USA: INF Treaty

the marquess of lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the impact on nuclear proliferation arising from President Trump’s announcement of the US decision to withdraw from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: While the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty remains in force, we will continue our efforts to bring Russia back into full and verified compliance. We believe the INF Treaty has played a valuable role in supporting Euro-Atlantic security and want to see it continue to stand but that requires all parties to abide by it.With or without the INF Treaty, we will continue to work with partners across the international community to prevent proliferation and to make progress on multilateral nuclear disarmament, to build trust and confidence between nuclear and non-nuclear weapon states, and to take tangible steps toward a safer and more stable world.

Commonwealth: LGBT People

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they have taken tosupport equality for LGBT people in the Commonwealth.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: As host of the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in April, we ensured that equality issues were raised throughout the week, including at Head of Government and Foreign Minister Level. In her speech to Commonwealth Forums, the Prime Minister expressed regret that discriminatory legislation continues to affect the lives of people across the Commonwealth, criminalising same-sex relations and failing to protect women and girls. The Prime Minister was clear that the UK stands ready to support any Commonwealth member wanting to reform outdated legislation that makes such discrimination possible. We have since announced a £5.6m programme working with civil society organisations to support those countries who might wish to reform discriminatory legislation. As Chair-in-Office of the Commonwealth, the UK will continue to raise the importance of countering all forms of discrimination, including on the basis of gender and sexual orientation.

Commonwealth: Abortion

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are taking steps to support abortion law reform in the Commonwealth; and if so, what are those steps.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: There are no specific initiatives focused on abortion law reform in the Commonwealth. The Department for International Development, however, delivers reproductive health programmes in several Commonwealth countries that aim to increase access to family planning services, give women and girls more control over their lives, and reduce maternal deaths from unsafe abortion.

Department for International Development

Ethiopia: Ethnic Groups

lord patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the (1) aid available to, and (2) religious freedoms of, the Manjo peoples living in the Sheka zone of the Southern region of Ethiopia.

lord bates: The Manjo people in Southern Ethiopia have faced long standing social, political and economic marginalisation. Consequently, they have not benefitted equally from Ethiopia’s development gains. Neither have they been able to fully exercise their human rights, including that of religious freedom. DFID made an assessment of the situation of the Manjo through the first phase of the Civil Society Support Programme (2011-16), to which the UK contributed £14m. The programme supported interventions by local civil society organisations to address the underlying factors that maintain social and religious marginalisation. Community dialogue events sought to change cultural attitudes towards the Manjo. The second phase of the programme will continue to have a focus on marginalised communities, including the Manjo, through grants and strategic government engagement.

Uganda: Tuberculosis

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reserves of anti-tuberculosis treatments held in Uganda; and what discussions they have had with the government of Uganda about whether a sufficient amount of medicines and vaccines are available to treattuberculosis in that country.

lord bates: There is a global shortage of a key active pharmaceutical ingredient to the tuberculosis regimen – Rifampicin – which has impacted the availability of first line tuberculosis treatment in Uganda. The shortage is a result of several manufacturers closing. The Global Drug Facility is aware and working to resolve the problem. As a result, Uganda has recently received 6 months’ tuberculosis supplies which are currently being distributed by the National Medical Stores. DFID is lobbying government to engage at the international level, to ensure availability of tuberculosis drugs.

Department for Education

Out-of-school Education

lord storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what lessons they have learnt from the successful prosecution and closure of the unregistered Al-Istiqamah Learning Centre.

lord storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to give additional powers to Ofstedto deal with unregistered schools.

lord agnew of oulton: We welcome Westminster Magistrates Court’s ruling and firmly believe this was an appropriate case to prosecute and that we have adopted the correct approach in our prosecutions guidance on full-time education.We have always been clear that where schools are operating illegally action will be taken, and the decision by the court is evidence of that.We will however continue our work with Ofsted and the Crown Prosecution Service, to build on the successes we have already had, and see where lessons can be learned.

The Senior Deputy Speaker

Hereditary Peers: By-elections

lord grocott: To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker whether he will provide for members of the media to be present to witness the count at future hereditary peers by-elections.

lord mcfall of alcluith: There are no plans to provide for members of the media to be present to witness the count at future hereditary peers by-elections.

Hereditary Peers: By-elections

lord grocott: To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker whether he will ensure that tellers are appointed to attend future counts for hereditary peers by-elections.

lord mcfall of alcluith: There are no current plans to ensure that tellers are appointed to attend future counts for hereditary peers by-elections. The voting system is not such as to enable a role for tellers. Polls are supervised and the count conducted by Electoral Reform Services. A member of the relevant party/group is appointed to act as scrutineer at the count.

Department for Work and Pensions

European Social Fund

baroness pinnock: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they willallocate any resources in the European Social Fundthat remain unallocated by the end of the fund period in 2020; and if so, where such funding will be allocated.

baroness buscombe: The Draft Withdrawal Agreement, as of March 2018, reaffirmed the UK’s commitment to participate in all EU programmes financed by the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2014-2020 until their closure, subject to a negotiated withdrawal. The agreement means that, subject to final agreement, the UK will remain in the 2014-2020 European Structural and Investment Funds (including the European Social Fund) until programme closure, with funding agreed by end of the framework able to run through to the end of 2023. At the mid-point of the programme we have spent funding on various positive activities that target inequality and support some of the hardest to help and most vulnerable people in society develop new skills and move towards, and into, work. This includes HMPPS’ co-financed projects that help offenders and ex-offenders access employment services assisting them to gain employment; Big Lottery co-financed projects that tackle poverty and promote social inclusion; and projects that enable people to engage successfully with programmes such as Traineeships and the Work and Health Programme. To ensure that we make full use of available funds, we are developing an approach for any notional allocations which remain uncommitted or for which there are no firm plans, to be brought together towards the end of 2019. This approach will notably enable further funding to be committed in those areas which have the greatest demand. We will continue to work with our partners over the coming years to make the most effective and efficient use of available funding.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Meat: Ritual Slaughter

baroness byford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to ensure that consumers in the UK can be certain from food labelling that the meat they purchase is not Halal.

lord gardiner of kimble: The Government is aware that there is public concern about meat from animals slaughtered in accordance with religious beliefs being sold to consumers who do not require their meat to be prepared in this way. There are no domestic or European Regulations that require the labelling of Halal meat but where any information of this nature is provided, it must be accurate and must not be misleading to the customer. The Government believes that consumers should have the necessary information available to them to make an informed choice about their food. This is an issue the Government is considering in the context of the UK’s exit from the EU.

Plastics: Waste Disposal

lord greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government whatguidance they are providingto waste collection authorities that are suspending the collection of plastics or considering doing so owing to the difficulties of finding reliable markets for the plastic materials.

lord gardiner of kimble: Since 2015 all councils have had to collect waste paper, metal, plastic and glass by separate collection, except where this is not necessary to provide a sufficiently high quality of recyclate or where it is not technically, environmentally or economically practicable. My honourable friend, Therese Coffey, has taken up this issue with the local government association and will also be sharing her concerns with the regulator, the Environment Agency.

Bluetongue Disease

baroness kennedy of cradley: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many cases of Bluetongue virus have been identified in sheep in the UK over the last 12 months.

lord gardiner of kimble: In the last 12 months a single ram imported from an affected area of Europe tested positive for Bluetongue virus shortly after its arrival here as part of our post import testing regime and was culled quickly. There have been no domestic outbreaks of Bluetongue virus in the UK in any species since 2008.

Home Office

Capital Punishment

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers byBaroness Williams of Trafford on 9 October (HL9860 and HL9890) and the Minister of State for the Home Office on 10 October (167956), whether either of the two individuals cited were transferred to the Guantanamo Bay prison facility.

baroness williams of trafford: The Government’s position remains that the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay should close.In respect of the two requests for mutual legal assistance, it would not be appropriate to share information as it may harm on-going criminal investigations or future prosecutions.The purpose of mutual legal assistance is to assist law enforcement agencies at home and abroad with criminal investigations and the prosecution of criminal offences. It is an essential tool for cutting crime and preventing terrorism.

Child Sexual Abuse Independent Panel Inquiry

lord campbell-savours: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the compatibility of the appointment ofDrusilla Sharpling to the Janner strand of theIndependent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse with therequirementof impartiality as set out in section 9 of the Inquiries Act 2005.

baroness williams of trafford: As required by the Inquiries Act 2005, inquiry panel members must notify the Minister of any issues that might affect their eligibility for appointment, such as their ability to be impartial. In March 2017, following confirmation of the investigative strands that the Inquiry would pursue, Dru Sharpling wrote to then Home Secretary to provide details of her career and stating her belief that this would not affect impartiality.The then Home Secretary replied confirming that she was satisfied that none of the information provided could be said to affect the panel’s impartiality. These letters are available on the IICSA website - https://www.iicsa.org.uk/key-documents/1361/view/copy-2017-03-01-letter-from-dru-sharpling-to-home-secretary-re-further-declaration-interest.pdf and https://www.iicsa.org.uk/key-documents/1362/view/copy-2017-03-20-letter-from-home-secretary-to-dru-sharpling-re-further-declaration-interest.pdf.



Letter - Home Sec - Dru Sharpling 
(PDF Document, 24.98 KB)




Letter Dru Sharpling - Home Sec 
(PDF Document, 137.06 KB)

Department for International Trade

Trade Agreements

lord robertson of port ellen: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the provisions of Article 32.10 (Non-Market Country FTA) of theUnited States–Mexico–Canada Agreement would preclude the UK having both a United States–UK free trade agreement and a UK–China free trade agreement.

baroness fairhead: The UK is not a party to the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement and none of its provisions place an obligation on the UK.

Ministry of Justice

Race and Ethnicity Board

baroness whitaker: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 1 February (HL4903), what conclusions the Race and Ethnicity Board has reached on how best to engage the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.

lord keen of elie: Following the publication of the Lammy Review last year, we are making efforts to explore and address specific disparities among the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) communities in the justice system, overseen by the Race and Ethnicity Board. Our ability to design and assess effective policies will be strengthened by engagement with representatives of GRT communities with direct experience of the justice system. To this end, we are establishing a dedicated stakeholder forum to inform, review and partner with on emerging work.